the energizer bunny

There is only 2 weeks to go before summer break and Big M is making up for lost time. It's like he reserved his naughtiness until the very end, after being a model student all this time. In all fairness though, he is not actually being naughty. He just has too much energy and no outlet to burn it on.

Soccer ended mid-April and it so happens that the behavior problem at school started at that time. He was used to soccer almost 4x a week when the season started and Drama, too. When the soccer season ended, we decided to go ahead and stop the mini soccer academy. The mini soccer academy is pure 2 hours of energy-draining activity. Now that it's over, Big M doesn't have anything to drain him. He still has Drama (though it is ending this Saturday with a big production) but that hardly taps into his never-ending energy reserves.

Daddy went to Big M's last parent-teacher conference earlier this week and of course there was a mention of Big M's behavior. The Kindergarten teachers are amazed that they they have hardly mentioned Big M's name until several weeks ago. His teacher mentioned that he was always, always remorseful when he gets in trouble. And at home when I ask him about it, he is indeed remorseful. He is actually starting to think that he can't do anything without it ending in disaster (his own words).

Last week Big M explained that he just gets too excited, which makes him talk loudly. I explained to him that he must control himself even though he is excited. He said he tries, he really does. Then today I asked him if he got in any trouble again and he said he did "but only a little". A friend of his was making a gun in one of their activities and he was very interested in it and started chatting with this friend. The teacher caught them and reprimanded them both. They know that they are not to make any gun play at school. Big M told me that he didn't make the gun, but "it ended up in a disaster" anyway. I told him that next time that happens, he should just turn the other way and ignore the classmate who is not following the rules. "But Mommy, they're my friends. I can't stop talking to them!" he explains.

A friend whose son was in soccer with Big M is thinking of enrolling their child in either Martial Arts or swimming this summer. I think it may do us all good if Big M also gets into something similar. And the sooner the better.